republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/sb-681.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local referenda and charter amendments: withdrawal."
description: "Existing law authorizes the proponent of a county, municipal, or district initiative to withdraw the initiative at any time before the 88th day before the election, whether or not the petition has already been found sufficient by the elections official."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 681"
citation: "California SB 681 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Local referenda and charter amendments: withdrawal."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stern"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 31
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-02-22"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ebf72250-a1f7-446d-b846-d75171981134"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681"
source_hash: "73d55857a9cc205c00db9456b7f2b28c4824a6b7afb9f06a5abcae7a41176168"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 681 (20192020) — Local referenda and charter amendments: withdrawal.

Existing law authorizes the proponent of a county, municipal, or district initiative to withdraw the initiative at any time before the 88th day before the election, whether or not the petition has already been found sufficient by the elections official.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/22/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681&version=20190SB68199INT)
2. **08/22/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681&version=20190SB68198AMD)
3. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681&version=20190SB68196CHP)
4. **SB681** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681)
5. **09/06/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB681&version=20190SB68197ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Governance and Finance] — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 681 Stern Third Reading Urgency By Calderon — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB681 Stern Urgency Clause Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Stern — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-22** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2019-02-25** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 27.
- **2019-02-25** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-14** Referred to Coms. on E. & C.A. and GOV. & F. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-15** Set for hearing April 2.
- **2019-04-02** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on GOV. & F. (Ayes 3. Noes 0. Page 524.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on GOV. & F. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-04** Set for hearing April 10.
- **2019-04-11** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 714.) (April 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-18** Set for hearing April 29.
- **2019-04-29** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-04-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-06** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 961.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-07** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-16** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-07-03** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (July 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-07-05** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-07-11** From consent calendar on motion of Assembly Member Calderon.
- **2019-07-11** Ordered to inactive file.
- **2019-08-12** Notice of intention to remove from inactive file given by Assembly Member Calderon.
- **2019-08-13** From inactive file.
- **2019-08-13** Ordered to third reading.
- **2019-08-22** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-22** Ordered to third reading.
- **2019-09-03** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2952.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-03** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2019-09-04** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2019-09-04** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2531.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 569, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ebf72250-a1f7-446d-b846-d75171981134`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).